1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a system for constructing buildings, and more particularly toward a versatile construction system having modular building components which can be quickly assembled to create a hidden skeletal support frame for residential or commercial structures.
2. Background Art
Existing constructions frequently utilize a post-and-beam design in which massive steel girders are used to define the skeleton of a building, and in which poured concrete slabs are supported on the skeleton to define the building floors and walls. Although the steel girder-approach has been popularized due to its inherently robust nature, the approach is fraught with undesirable shortcomings which heretofore have been accepted as unavoidable compromises.
Particularly, one existing problem is the limited capability of achieving spacious, open interiors within buildings. Because the weight of overlying structure is distributed over an entire floor, in a typical post-and-beam design it is necessary to place vertical posts at regularly spaced intervals across the area spanned by the floor. Architects are required to work around the posts when designing a useful interior environment, and must concern themselves first with the structural constraints of the building, rather than the use to which the space is intended.
Additionally, costs and construction times associated with post-and-beam construction can be prohibitive. Once a steel girder-skeleton is erected, workers must continue to endure prevailing weather effects while the concrete "skin" is mounted on the skeleton. As a result, weather conditions play a large role in determining the amount of time, and the number of man hours, required to erect a building.
Post-and-beam construction also requires an enormous amount of labor and equipment to properly assemble the steel girder-skeleton and to subsequently mount the various concrete panels. In addition to the many man hours required, each floor of a post-and-beam construction requires several steel girders which necessitate the use of costly, specialized equipment. Painstaking care is necessary to properly align each of the numerous girders which are required in each floor of a building. As a result, labor and material costs can quickly become exorbitant and limit the efficiency with which a building is erected.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.